Steve Larkin and Darren Walton
Cameron Smith’s future is unclear with LIV Golf revealing it is preparing to go into liquidation.
Five years after it fractured the sport’s landscape, LIV announced in bankruptcy court it plans to wind down operations instead of launching a new version because it didn’t have enough support.
“In light of the current circumstances, we believe shifting toward an orderly wind-down is the most responsible path forward for the League at this time,” Gene Davis and Jon Zinman of LIV Golf board’s special committee said in a press release released in the early hours of Friday morning (AEST).
Throughout the wind-down process, LIV Golf said it would remain open to, and continue to consider any offers from third parties that could get more value from its assets.
LIV Golf had secured $300 million of potential financing from BC Partners to allow the staging of tournaments in 2027 but scrapped the plan after high-profile players including Jon Rahm and Australia’s Lucas Herbert left the breakaway tour.
BC Partners had been planning to replace Saudi Arabia’s Public Investment Fund (PIF), which withdrew as chief backer last year.
The developments cast further uncertainty on the future of Smith, the 2022 British Open champion and captain of LIV’s all-Aussie Ripper GC.
Unlike Herbert, who has walked away from LIV, Smith and his Ripper teammates Marc Leishman and Elvis Smylie have yet to signal their intention.
But despite turning down the chance in January to move back to the PGA Tour under the “Returning Player Program”, Smith reportedly requested a formal release from his LIV Golf contract at the ongoing bankruptcy hearings in New Jersey last month.
Adelaide hosted four LIV Golf tournaments, lauded as the tour’s benchmark for attracting crowds of more than 400,000 spectators overall.
But South Australian Premier Peter Malinauskas now accepts the tour appears over.
Speaking to reporters in Adelaide before the overnight news from the US Malinauskas said: “BC Capital Partners have made it clear that they don’t intend to support LIV if they don’t get the players required, which is essentially consistent with the South Australian government’s position.
“It’s fair to say that on all accounts, for all the information we have before us, I think it’s not going to happen next year.”
He said LIV Golf’s Adelaide tournament had been worth $316 million for his state.
“It worked, big time,” Malinauskas said. “In fact it blew everyone’s expectations (away), including my own … it worked out to be a punt that paid off.”
Saudi Arabia’s PIF spent $US5 billion on LIV Golf, offering huge contracts to entice drawcards such as Australia’s Smith, understood to have signed on for $US100 million, former world No.1 Rahm, and Americans Bryson DeChambeau and Phil Mickelson.
The PIF also offered enormous tournament purses of $US20 million, including $US4 million for an event’s individual winner, plus $US3 million for the winning team.
Last month, a US bankruptcy judge approved LIV Golf’s request to reject 19 player contracts, including Smith’s, as part of the tour’s bankruptcy proceedings and transition to LIV Golf 2.0.
That means Smith and the 18 other golfers were no longer bound by the old agreement and were free to negotiate new terms with LIV 2.0, or explore opportunities with other tours.
Smith was listed as an unsecured creditor in the bankruptcy filings, owed about $US4.84 million in past quarterly payments.
AAP with AP
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